An urban farm in the city

I am a designer, art director, stylist, photographer and urban farmer living in Toronto with my wonderful human and extended fur & feather family. In addition to our dog and two cats, we also raise backyard chickens, ducks and quails for eggs, rabbits for fun, tilapia to eat, and a couple of not-so-mini pet pigs named Henry and Rocco.

When I’m not making food or photographing food, I’m growing food. Despite the long Canadian winter, our goal is to be self-sufficient producing most of what we eat year round.

Wine-making, mushroom cultivation, aquaponics and a mini backyard orchard are just a few of the projects going on at the “farm” right now. Welcome to our urban homestead.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Yes, I styled and took all these photos – by myself – with my left hand as my assistant. I’m a self-taught photographer with 20 years industry experience running my own design studio. Yes, I’m also lucky to be married to a uber-talented photographer to mentor me. And yes, you may call me for assignments.

May 26, 2011

Dandelion Wine

A couple of weeks ago hubby and I started a new project. I had read a post by chef Georgia Pellegrini on making dandelion wine and was immediately inspired to raid every untouched lawn in the neighborhood. As luck would have it, we found a winemaking supply store only 5 minutes from home. Imagine all the possibilities! We could start a chic little micro winery, sourcing grapes from local vineyards, or grow our own. A critically acclaimed garage winery where only a few barrels are produced each year…where celebrities and wine snobs come begging at the door for a case…then the theme from Falcon Crest(there I go dating myself again) came to mind, and I woke up.

Make sure to pick from unsprayed areas that are clean and away from cars and foot traffic. Best time to pick is mid day when buds are open.

Use the petals, but some of the green can be left on to help in fermentation. It’s not too late to go out and pick some dandelions, you will need eight cups of blossoms.